


butterflies & needles

by notcrindy



Series: Forest is the Monster AU [2]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Gen, SO, my the Forest Chooses Duck AU, so remember my who needs monsters when the forest is the monster AU, well this is what happens in that AU if he learns about the power of friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 08:17:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notcrindy/pseuds/notcrindy
Summary: There were lots of ways to get to know people and make new friends.Aubrey didn't exactly plan on one of them beingsaving someone from a spooky forest,but hey.(An expansion of my "sometimes the forest is the monster" AU. Title from "Hunger of the Pine" by alt-J.)





	butterflies & needles

The first time Aubrey met Duck Newton, she was practicing.

The middle of the national forest may not have been the most  _ practical _ place for it, she’d admit. That was kind of her bad, but in her defense she needed somewhere kind of remote and she didn’t know the area very well. She’d only recently started picking up gigs around here, and being from New York City originally she kind of knew  _ nothing _ about these small rural communities, but the forest stuck out in her mind. It was easy to find and afforded her the isolation she needed, but the best thing about it by far?

It had a  _ creepy as fuck atmosphere. _

To Aubrey Little, that meant she’d have to leave Dr. Harris Bonkers back at the hotel, which she wasn’t crazy about; to the Lady Flame, though, that meant  _ everything. _ The dark and mysterious vibe of the woods at night made them a  _ perfect _ backdrop against her fire magic, and she also kind of felt  _ badass. _ Even though she tried very hard to cultivate her own dramatics with every show and she was doing an okay job (with the exception of the music? Hadn’t been able to nail that one down yet), performing in mediocre hotel lobbies and children’s birthday parties kind of didn’t give her a lot of opportunities to feel that way.

So yeah, it was a bad idea, definitely. It was stupid and reckless, and it endangered her and the lives of a bunch of little woodland creatures, which Aubrey  _ wasn’t _ about at all (don’t get her wrong).

But as she climbed on top of a tree stump, illuminated only by the flames igniting in her hands, she had to imagine she looked  _ awesome. _

“These flames may look  _ frightening _ to some of you,” she addressed an imaginary audience. “ _ Dangerous, _ even! But I can assure you  _ all _ that my name… ...is the Lady Flame for a  _ reason. _ ”

A voice came at her from out of the darkness. “Would that reason happen to involve  _ inadvisably  _ playing with open flames on a government-owned and protected piece of land?”

Aubrey was so startled she nearly fell off the stump. Caught herself, though, and hopped off it as quickly and playfully as she could, extinguishing the fire in her hands with control and masterful effort. “Uh, look, I know this  _ looks _ bad--”

“Ain’t many other ways for this to look, Miss, uh…”

“Little,” Aubrey stammered, trying not to sound too awkward. She hadn’t been in West Virginia long at  _ all, _ and it was disheartening to already be in trouble with the locals. “Aubrey Little, sir. Otherwise known as the Lady Flame. It’s… ...a magic act? It’s fire magic, but I--I  _ promise _ I’m really good at it.”

She gave him a quick glance up and down; he was shining his flashlight right in her face. Park ranger, she guessed. Okay, well at least it wasn’t the  _ police _ or something. “Now, Miss Little, you’ll forgive me if I’m bein’ too blunt here,” he started, “but this has nothin’ to do with the  _ quality  _ of your magic. More to do with an open flame in our beloved National Forest. You ain’t from around here, are you?”

“Um,” Aubrey said, “no, sir. I’m from New York City, sir.”

“A city slicker, huh? Wouldn’t that figure.”

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean? Just because I’m from  _ New York, _ you think I wanna  _ burn down your forest? _ ”

“No, Miss Little, I don’t think you  _ wanna. _ I should  _ hope _ not, anyways. Doesn’t mean you  _ won’t, _ though, if you carry on like that. Wildfires get started more innocuous ways than this, y’know. Only takes one lone spark to cause some trouble. ‘fraid this kind of thing warrants a fine, bare minimum.”

_ Aw, shit. _ “Please, Mister Ranger, sir--it would be really great if you didn’t fine me. I’m--I’m  _ new _ to town, I’m an up and coming  _ magician, _ and it’s hard to find work here so far and I don’t ‘xactly have a lot of money, so um… ...if you could… ...not do that, it would be really--”

She was nervous, but not  _ nearly _ as nervous as she felt when a flame suddenly burst into life in her hands. “Holy  _ shit, _ ” she gasped. Her surprise seemed to only make the fire worse, and she  _ panicked _ as it hit the forest ground. “Fuck, I’m  _ so sorry,  _ I didn’t mean to  _ do _ that! I don’t know what’s--I didn’t mean to  _ do _ that, I swear.”

The park ranger winced, clutching his arm. “No harm done,” he insisted, grunting in obvious pain. “If we can put it out. Just--”

“I got it,” she insisted, extinguishing it as quick as possible by dumping the entirety of a bottle of water she brought with her out onto it. “You don’t work with fire without knowing how to put stuff out!”

Aubrey started to laugh, but she noticed the man still clutching his arm and looking slightly in pain. “Um, hey, Ranger Rick? You doing okay over there?”

“Just fine, Miss Little, thank you,” he said, still blatantly in pain.

“You… ...you don’t have to bullshit me, man. Should I be concerned, or?”

“Not at all,” he managed. “Listen, I… I’m gonna let you off with a warning. Just for now. But don’t let me catch you doing this again, you understand?” To Ranger Rick, that probably meant  _ don’t do this thing that almost landed you with a huge fine and proof that you can’t make it on your own. _ All Aubrey heard was,  _ don’t get caught, _ but. Y’know. Whatever. Either way, she sighed in relief.

“Thank you so much! Listen, as a--as a show of gratitude, um. Do you like magic? Would you like to come to one of my shows or something?” She fidgeted, shifting weight from one foot to another. “I mean, I can already tell that fire’s maybe not your  _ favorite _ thing, but I have this assistant, Dr. Harris Bonkers? He’s pretty much the  _ cutest _ little guy, really smart too obviously. ‘cuz he’s a doctor, and uh, it might be worth it to drop by to see us sometime! We’re playing at the Dew Drop Inn if you’re interested. ...oh, I just got that name.  _ Hah. _ Pretty good!”

The park ranger didn’t seem so into that, though. When she got an accidental peek at his arm, she understood why: a huge burn mark had just  _ blossomed _ there, making its home on his skin. It looked painful, but he was trying to get as far away from her as possible, not giving her anymore opportunities to ask questions. “Mighty kind of you, Miss--uh--Miss Little. Afraid I don’t have time for things like that, uh, though, but thank you. Speakin’ of, if we’re all done here, I think it’s best if I…” Now he was managing to stand with his arms at his sides, but she could  _ tell _ he was all stiff and hurting. “...if I get goin’. You have a nice night, y’hear?”

“Uh,” she flashed him a smile, trying not to totally stare at his arm. “Will definitely do! You too!”  _ I’m really good at treating burns, _ she wanted to say.  _ Kind of have to be in this line of work, _ she wanted to say.

But he got in his car and left.

She tried (and failed) not to think about it anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhhh i've been thinking about/working on this prologue for months and?? i really wish it were better, but whatever. i just need to get this concept out into the world. LMAO. UH. there will probably be more. i'm still hesitant to write about "Amnesty" sometimes, but dang do i love it and does it matter to me, so. shrug. thanks for reading 'n' caring. <3


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